Email Etiquette: Don’t Make These Mistakes!
June 15, 2009 by Rita Marshall
photo by Bruno Neves
Lesson 1: Your first email to someone new? Make it count.
I spend a fair bit of time on emails, especially ones where I am contacting a source or possible client for the first time. First impressions count, and email doesn’t let you express tone or establish a rapport the way face-to-face or a phone call does.
Lynn Gaertner-Johnston at Business Writing blog shares an email message spectacular in its ineffectiveness. Read her post and remember why even a “quick” email should be researched, personalized and carefully written.
Lesson 2: Use your emailing powers for good, not annoyance.
Maybe some people honestly don’t know, or maybe they know perfectly well and are deliberately trying to drive you crazy. Either way, make sure you’re not one of them and check out this fun ABC News article on office politics and bad email habits.
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Do You Need a Business Card?
June 5, 2009 by Rita Marshall
photo by Mihai Eustatiu
Do you need a business card? Of course you do. A wildly popular and perfect digital replacement for a business card hasn’t appeared yet, so our 2×3 cardstock friends will be with us for a while.
Some people put off getting a business card, convincing themselves that it will be a waste of money. Two notorious groups for this are online business owners and, at the other end of the continuum, low-tech business owners in small towns / rural areas.
Online Business Owners Need Business Cards
To be fair, it seems pretty simple why your online business can get along without hard copy business cards. Your clients are online, you find clients online, you do everything online.
In response, Diana Ratliff asks the following six cheeky questions :
• Is everybody who might possibly have an interest in your business currently online?
• If yes, do they know how to find your site?
• Will they be able to find your site six months from now?
• Is your site getting all the traffic you can handle?
• Does everyone you discuss your business with around town have a pen and paper handy so they can write down your website address?
Think of IRL (In Real Life) marketing as an edge for your online business. Technology is fast and amazing, but so is personal contact and word of mouth. Speaking of word of mouth…
Low-Tech Small Town / Rural Businesses Also Need Business Cards
Everyone knows where your business is located! Turn left on the second concession just after RR 3. The long, hidden driveway to get to your business is kitty corner to the giant tree at the Henderson place.
The problem is that new people move to small towns in rural areas, and they don’t know where the Henderson place is. Also, if they ask a long-time resident, the long-timer may only have a vague description of the location.
A long-time resident in my small town, who knows everyone, was stumped recently when someone asked him for the name and number of a local wood-carving business. He could describe where it was on the highway, but without a business card in his pocket or the business card info in his Blackberry, he didn’t have a phone number or even a business name to pass along.
People and Business Cards: A Great Combination
Word of mouth and reputation is great, but people’s brains only hold so much. As always, never make it hard for people to remember:
- who you are
- what your business is called
- what it does
- how you can be reached
If you work hard at making connections with potential clients, business cards will be a great safety net to make sure customers can find you whenever they need you.
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